College Football is the greatest spectator sport in America. Tailgating is an art form, sampling the local fare, traditions and partaking in a beverage or two is a must. Atmosphere is everything! If you don't attend a game, you can still tailgate right in the confines of your own man-cave. Enjoy the site!
Twitter handle - @dantailgater,
Instagram - dantailgater

Amazon

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Sometimes the best laid plans are just not meant to be. I
packed up the DFT suitcase and flew to Fort Lauderdale for a week of work in
our U.S. Office. The plan was to head up to North Carolina Thursday for the BC
at Wake Forest Game and then catch the UCF at UNC game Saturday and a possibility
of also seeing WVU at NC State. I was to meet up with a large assortment of
family, friends and new instant buddies. Mother Nature had other ideas as she
cast her spawn named Florence toward the coast of North Carolina keeping all
but the very bravest away and in the process cancelling 6 Division 1 A games
for the weekend. Faced with this conundrum and in possession of that rare hall
pass to go play for the weekend, I broke out the DFT game tracker and saw that
the University of Florida had a home game on Saturday versus Colorado State. I had
never been to “The Swamp” and thought that was a more than adequate plan B. I
called my old work mate Steve “Nerdcell” to join me who I had last caught an American
college football game with on the continent of Australia two years prior. He
obtained his hall pass within 30 seconds and was a go. We are already planning for
the next time a college game will be played in Ireland and England, so we can
claim the rare distinction of possibly the only people to catch games on 3
continents.

My newest Besties!

Steve picked me up Saturday morning after a night of reconnecting
with my old high school buddy Jeff Brunner and his wife. Needless to say, DFT
might have stood for “Dan Feeling Terrible” at that point. We pulled into
campus and set up camp under shade trees and joined in with a group of Gator
and Colorado State fans that were parked next to us. Due to the extreme heat
and humidity, it was recommended we stay well hydrated, so we complied by
making an Arctic cooler bag full of Yuenglings disappear. We kibitzed with a
group of spirited people that were all Colorado State grads and shared stories
and laughs. They even had their own Dazed and Confused version of
Mathew “All Right All Right All Right!” McConaughey in their mix.

Planting the banner in The Swamp

The boys from Fort Collins

After
breaking camp and mooching a shot of spirits in route to the stadium, we joined
the cattle call to gain entrance to the “The Swamp”. As we neared the gate, a
loud security guard called out “ YOU COLORADO STATE FANS, MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL
IN FLORIDA. DISPOSE OF IT NOW!!!!. That got a collective chuckle from the masses.

Florida is one of the few “Blue Bloods” of college football
schools I had not yet crossed off my list. The Gators have a more modern
tradition of greatness going back to the late 80’s with Emmitt Smith as their
star running back followed by the Steve Spurrier era which garnered the Gators
a National Championship in 96. The Gators followed up in 06 & 08 with 2
more Nattys under now disgraced coach Urban Meyer. Many great players have
matriculated through Gainesville along with Emmitt Smith such as Danny Wuerful,
Tim Tebow and the ole ball coach hisself, Stevey Superior back in the 1960s.

The Swamp in all it's glory

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, named after a former well-heeled alumni
is known throughout college football as The Swamp. The Swamp is said to be one
of the loudest stadiums when at capacity in all of college football. Unfortunately
for us, it was perhaps 60% full for this game. After the Gators lost for the
first time in 30 years to Kentucky last week, it appears the fans decided to make
a statement by sitting this one out. Originally built in 1930, The Swamp has a current capacity of 91,000. The
most famous in game tradition is the Gator Chomp. When the Jaws music comes
over the loud speakers, the fans break out in unison doing the Gator chomp by
extending their arms vertically and horizontally and bringing their hands together
and speeding up as the music does the same. I have no rhythm, so I refrained
from partaking. Another ritual at the end of the third quarter is when the song
We Are The Boys From Old Florida is played and the fans, arm in arm sway
back and forth in alternating rows. I was able to accomplish this without messing
our section up. The Florida Marching Band was large and loud throughout the day,
however we heard less of them and more of the annoying piped in music. This is
rare in the SEC as the Bands usually dominate the sounds. The student section
in the sun baked side of the stadium looked to be at best half full.

Never smile like a crocodile.....

Knowing this would be a hot Florida day, I made sure our
seats were on the shady side of the stadium in the upper deck with a great view
of the action. The first quarter of play was fairly even with a few mistakes by
each squad. The Gators’ size and speed started to wear down the scrappy Rams in
the second quarter and went into the locker room at half with a 28-3 lead. At halftime, we were visited by my
Frostburg classmate and wife of a fraternity brother, Karen Langrehr and her daughter
Rachel who is a student at Florida. It is always good catching up with old
friends just to remind me how much I have forgotten. Colorado State started to
make a game of it with a touchdown and a couple of long drives in the third quarter, but Florida was
just too deep and significantly better in the 4th quarter as they ran
away with the game. Final score Florida 48, CSU 10. Back to my airport hotel
for a zero dark thirty flight to the West Coast.

Catching up with the Langrehrs.

Around the country

Get over it people, Alabama is just damn good this year as
they went into Oxford and had to show mercy on the Rebs, pounding them 62-7. Colonel
Reb was crying. In what appeared to be the game of the day, the LSU Tigers went
into Jordan Hare and clawed out a win over the Auburn Tigers on a last second
field goal. Coach Shrek in the post game field interview was heard saying “come
on Donkey, One Heartbeat!”. In Jerry World, Ohio State without Urban for the
last time this season took down a good TCU squad. Further down Interstate 35,
the Longhorns put a Texas size whipping on the Men of Troy in a 2005 National
Championship rematch. In the game I missed that was not cancelled, Boston College
beat Wake Forest to improve to 3-0. Syracuse beat Florida State for the first
time in forever. The mighty OU Sooners behind Center Fielder Kyler Murray went
up to Ames and claimed revenge over the Cyclones for last year’s upset. In
Stillwater, Mrs. Tailgate’s Cowpokes rounded up daughter #1’s Broncos and
handed them their first defeat while remaining perfect on the season. I
normally don’t mention Kansas, but since they annihilated Rutgers for their second
win in a row, I had to write about them. Wisconsin joins the list of pretenders
as the BYU “Book of Mormon” prayed upon the Badgers in Camp Randall for a
massive upset. Hawaii traveled all the way to West Point only to be defeated by
Army. This may be the longest road trip of the season with the Rainbow Warriors
changing 6 times zones.

Just a reminder, if your school beats an FCS school or an
irrelevant group of 5 program, I won’t be mentioning you. However, when you
lose to these programs I will gladly print prose about it. Just ask Chipper at
UCLA, The Hermanator at ASU and John Smith at Oregon State as all three led
their squads to defeats against inferior Mountain West Conference opponents Fresno,
San Diego State and Nevada. Scott Frost and Nebraska losing to the other Men
of Troy, as in Troy University and Nerdwestern giving the Akron Zips their first
win over a Big Ten opponent in 124 years. Sadly, what is going on with Arkansas
as they also lost to North Texas out of Conference USA?

Bieber – Those teams
that Copy Miami’s Turnover Chain.
Last year, the University of Miami started an original concept: after every
time their team forced a turnover, the person who was credited with it put a
big chain around their neck on the sideline as a reward. It was cool, original and
unique. This year, in a world of non-original, me too people, we are seeing a
plethora of copycats. Boise State started the Turnover Throne, as in Royal
throne. Florida State came up with the Turnover backpack, however, it was last seen
on their opponents’ backs. FCS Kennesaw State has the Turnover Plank and Oregon
has the Oregon chain. Tulane has Mardi Gras style Turnover Heads, Memphis the
Turnover Robe, and Louisville with Turnover Gloves with a belt. So, you’re not
cool, you’re not original, you are simply copycat stains on the napkins of
life. Find something else to placate the mindless with.

Navy tailgaters

Last week at OU v UCLA

The Major from his Trojan Perch at Texas

The Bostic's view form their seats at Happy Valley

Miscellaneous Since
I did not have an article last week, I wanted to acknowledge the passing of Florida
State Great Burt Reynolds, the Bandit himself. I was fortunate enough 5 years
ago to attend a game at Tallahassee where they honored Burt at halftime. I even
did a remake of his famous bear skin pose prior to that game. RIP to the leader
of the Mean Machine.

Next Week – I will
be back home for a Monte Vista High School football tailgate and game on Friday
night with family and friends. Saturday will be a backyard tailgate to watch
Army play OU. Also, there will be weeks when I do not write a recap if I have
not gone to a game. I apologize in advance, but it is not as inspiring to write
if I don’t attend a game. Next road game is Ohio State at Penn State in 2 weeks.

Monday, September 3, 2018

As is customary for the past four years,
I begin my season long journey with my college buddy Jim “Tubby”, “Otis”, “Cousin
Eddie” Devine. The past few years we were able to pull off triple headers but
this year my vital organs and family said otherwise. We settled on the marquis
matchup on opening night, a Big Ten smash mouth battle between Purdue and
Northwestern in West Lafayette, IN. Prior to the football related festivities, I was instructed
to grab lunch at the famous Triple X Family diner. Now if that is not a diametrical
confluence of two worlds in a name, then what is? I am a sucker for places that
have been featured on shows like Man vs Food or Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive
ins and Dives. This place was on the latter and I was sold when I saw that they
actually take the steak and grind it up in the kitchen to make their burgers. I
had to partake, and it met my expectations.

Triple XXX Diner

We loaded up the styrofoam cooler with
necessary liquid accoutrements, accompanied by Cousin Eddie’s giant stack of homemade
sliders with “reeeeeeeeeeeeal tomato ketchup Clarke!” and headed to our
tailgate spot. We were invited to join my high school classmate Patti Lorette Phillips
at the Jones Family Tailgate, a mere 20 steps to the entrance of the south
end zone. The buffet line consisted of the aforementioned sliders, pulled pork BBQ
sammies, mac n cheese, and an assortment of other calorie conscious scooby
snacks. It was awesome catching up with Patti as she is that person that has done
a great job organizing class reunions and keeping in touch with many of our
classmates. We rehashed old class gossip, and “where are they now” and “who
have we lost” conversations. We also insisted that when there was a Boiler Up! cheer we toasted with that
red hot candy tasting juice that cousin Eddie calls the elixir of life.

Boiler Up and Fireball down!

We met the patriarch of the family,
Charlie Jones, class of 49 who was nattily dressed in a suit with a Purdue tie
while enjoying a Bloody Mary. Charlie, a young 93 year old with all his dark
hair still told me several stories about the school, the history, and his involvement
through the years. I said to him “Charlie, you have been coming to games here
for 75 years, what is your best memory?” He paused, looked me in the eye and then waved his hand around the
tailgate crowd and he said “This is. It’s the people”. With a look of
satisfaction, he took a sip of his Bloody
Mary as people lined up to say hello to him. It was reminiscent of the scene
from the Godfather as they came to kiss the ring. The Drum Corp even came by
and played several numbers for which I am told is out of respect for Charlie. I
was honored to meet this legend and his daughter Jennifer and her husband Gary
Katona who were gracious hosts. Prior to heading into the stadium, we were
treated to an up close and personal performance by The Purdue All American Marching
Band as they paraded by our tailgate spot. In true Big Ten fashion, the band
was large, talented, and spirited, and we applauded heartily.

Frostburg's finest with the legend Charlie Jones

Patti and the big heads!

Ross Ade stadium is in it’s 95th
season of existence. Current seating capacity in the horseshoe shaped structure
is 57,000. Named after two original benefactors, the stadium has witnessed some
amazing history. Purdue likes to call itself the Cradle of Quarterbacks with the likes of Len Dawson, Bob Griese, Drew
Brees, Kyle Orton, Mark Hermann, and Jim Everett just to name a few that played their college years at Ross Ade. I
would estimate that there were 48,000 in attendance Thursday night and the
place was electric. The student section was most impressive as almost all of
them stayed until the end. It helps that beer is served in the stadium, good
incentive for the kids.

Tailgate Connect on the job

Entering the stadium, our seats were in
the south end zone strategically located near the all important Beer Garden.
Prior to kick off we enjoyed a performance by a jump squad parachuting onto the
field with various flags including my favorite; the American flag. I was tapped
on the shoulder by a young man two rows behind me and he asked if I had served?
When I said yes, he thanked me. That moment again made me proud to be an
American. Regardless of what team you root for, what your political stripes
are, race, religion or creed, at that moment it reinforced to me how College Football
unites us all. I know, cheesy but true.

Northwestern jumped out to a quick 14 - 0
lead in the first quarter as they looked bigger and better prepared to play.
Both teams won Bowl games last year and are poised for strong seasons. These
are not your father’s Wildcats and Boiler Makers. Purdue was not going to lay
down and get steamrolled as they battled back to tie the score at 14 behind the
play of true freshman wide receiver Rondale Moore who accounted for both TDs. Northwestern
would dominate the second quarter by putting up 17 more points to Purdue’s 3
taking a 31-17 lead into the locker room.

Purdue narrowed the gap by scoring a touchdown
and a field goal in the second half. In the fourth quarter with the Wildcats holding
on to a narrow 4 point lead, with an apparent stalled drive that would result
in 4th and long, Purdue D lineman Lorenzo Neal made a crucial
mistake. After the whistle was blown with the running back wrapped up, Neal log
tossed the kid about 5 yards resulting in an automatic first down allowing NW
to run out the clock and walk away with a 31-27 victory.

The last chuckle of the night was while walking
out of the stadium when I spotted a golf cart with a driver in it and offered
him $20 to get us out of the sea of dejected humanity to an Uber friendly pick
up point. He drove us to our host’s hotel a mile away where we caught our
chariot to Denny’s for a 1 AM Grand Slam breaky.

Around the country

As Saturday came about, we opted for a
backyard tailgate to watch the later action. In the ABC game of the week, the
Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Michigan Harbaughs renewed their ancient
rivalry for the first time in four years. The Irish prevailed with a dominant
defensive performance keeping transfer QB Shea Patterson in check all night. The
QB debate at Bama is settled, it’s Tua not Jalen. Just let Michelle ask that
question if you want his opinion. In a
defensive battle, Auburn was just a bit better than the Huskies from Seattle
and walked away with a 6 point win. In
Charlotte, in a much anticipated battle, WVU left no doubt they were the better
team against Tennessee and their new Coach Pruitt. The Kyler Murray era at OU began
with a resounding beatdown of the Lane Train and his FAU Owls in Norman on Saturday.
Miami was no match on the Sunday night game for the fighting Ogres from LSU as
the Bayou Bengals devoured the Hurricanes. On Monday night in Tallahassee, the Hokies gobbled up the Seminoles in a lopsided win. In more provincial news, Monte Vista High School put up double nickels
to Analy’s “O no you dit int” on Friday night. Frostburg State won its season
opener against Stevenson college. Also, former Frostburg State All American
defensive lineman Niles Scott has secured a spot on the San Francisco 49ers
practice squad. Should he get called up, you may finally see me at one of their
games.

Monte Vista high school representing

Bieber – This week’s honors goes to two
so called college football fan friends of mine and part of the local DFT crew.The first honoree, a suspected
communist sympathizer Alan “Futbol” Campbell
was purported to be seen at the Scottish games in Pleasanton, CA sipping scotch
and wearing his Che Guevara t shirt. This was on Saturday during the seminal day
of the opening weekend of college football. He later was caught tweeting about
a Manchester United Futbol game. He has since taken the offensive tweet down.
The second goes to known anarchist Dave Quilici who was found in Portland,
Oregon all weekend attending Antifa rallies or Free the trees demonstrations.
When Dave was contacted, he had no idea it was even opening weekend of CFB. He
was last seen hitchhiking back to Cali on I5 sporting new dreadlocks. In other
news, the local East Bay Chapter of DFT is looking to fill two recently vacated
spots in its ranks. We only seek loyalty as the main characteristic.

Next Week – Nada, zip, nuttin.
The following week, a Carolina double double at Wake and UNC.

Search This Blog

Happy Valley Saturday

Tailgate Connect

Dan From The Tailgate

DFT

I live for college football weekends. I love tailgating before and after games and absorbing the atmosphere and traditions of the host school. I am on a quest to see a game in every "real" stadium for D1A football in the country and attend as many games and Tailgates as I can. It is more fun to accomplish this with friends and family, thus the DFT Nation has grown far and wide over the last 15 years. I have also added lower Division schools as part of my annual mix. Each Season, I will travel the country and attend numerous games in college stadiums that I have not previously been to and take in the whole experience and blog about it.

I also like to hear about your game day experiences each week. But it is not just about attending different stadiums, our Tailgate has many repeat locations each year for traditional games that are just plain fun like Army- Navy. Last but not least, I am a college football polygamist. Born a Notre Dame fan, Big OU Sooners and Boise State fan. And of course I root on Army and my Alma Mater Frostburg State. Nonetheless, I love all college football and there is no such thing as a bad game.

Vote for your favorite Conference

The Birthplace of CFB

Hampden Sydney game 2014

Children Of The Corn

Colonel Reb and the boys

What is the best rivalry game in college football

Tailgate Recipe of The Week

The most delicious Slow Cooker Beer Mac & Cheese that is totally homemade, uses your favorite beer and takes your mac and cheese to a whole…

Ingredients

Meat

1 lb Beef stew meat

Produce

1 14.5 oz can Tomatoes, fire-roasted

Canned Goods

1 cup Beef broth

Pasta & Grains

8 oz Pasta noodles

Baking & Spices

2 tbsp Flour

1 tbsp Worcheshire pub burger seasoning

Dairy

3 tbsp Butter

2 cups Cheese

2 cups Milk

Beer, Wine & Liquor

1 1/2 cup Stout beer

Death Valley, SC

With legendary BC Tailgaters Pops and Rick

Flip Cup at the Tailgate

Why can't we all just get along?

Favorite College Football Movie

Gracie Girl and Dan

My littlest Tailgater!

Vote for Your favorite Team Please

Cheerleaders

Boise Cheerleaders

Yahoo College Football Pick EM

Folks, follow the instructions below and cut and paste the link at the bottom. This is a fun weekly activity to measure your picks against others. No money, just for fun and a free DFT T shirt for the winner and DFT hat for 2nd and a pen for third at the end of the season! Let me know if you have any trouble signing up.

Hello Tailgater,

Welcome to Yahoo Sports College Football Pick'em.

You have created the Private Group called The Tailgaters and the Pick Set called Dan's Winners in that group. To allow other people to join this group send them the Group ID# (5374) and the Password (dan). Remember, it is the Group ID#, not the group name, that other people must use to join your group.

You are now ready to participate in College Football Pick'em. Your goal is to select the winner of each week's slate of games.